


Kokichi Oma's Been Acting Weird

by adylini



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Hand Holding so lewd, M/M, My First AO3 Post, Temporarily Unrequited Love, let's pretend everything's fine and everyone's alive okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-30 22:31:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19412725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adylini/pseuds/adylini
Summary: Kokichi was always a weird person, but lately, his lies and taunts have been getting a little out of hand. He would grab Shuichi's hand when no one was looking, follow Shuichi everywhere, and even lied about liking him. Even for a weirdo like him, weren’t the pranks getting a little ridiculous?or in which Shuichi is oblivious to Kokichi's little crush





	Kokichi Oma's Been Acting Weird

“Rise and shine, ursine! This is an official announcement from the Ultimate Academy. It’s 8 AM!” 

Woken up by the announcement, Shuichi Saihara got out of bed. He rubbed his eyes of the sleep and moved to his closet for his uniform. 

He was in the middle of getting dressed when his doorbell rang. 

Shuichi furrowed his eyebrows, hesitating to open the door as he could guess who was at his door. After a few seconds, a voice resounded from beyond the door. 

“C’ mon, open the door already, Shuichi!” 

Shuichi had guessed correctly, the person at his door was Kokichi Oma. Reluctantly, he turned his doorknob and opened the door for his guest. Kokichi bounced in merrily, grabbing Shuichi’s hands in the process. 

“Good morning Shuichi!” he chirped. 

Shuichi felt a headache coming up but he still exchanged his pleasantries with Kokichi. 

“I bet you’re just thrilled to be greeted by me every morning like this! Let’s head to the dining hall!” 

With that, Kokichi dragged Shuichi outside his room. 

“W-wait, I haven’t finished dressing yet!” He protested as he shook his hand from Kokichi’s grip. Kokichi pursed his lips when Shuichi did that, but he simply morphed his expression back to his typical smile as he placed both his hands behind his back. 

“I’ll wait for you, get ready fast. You shouldn’t keep this supreme evil leader waiting!” He placed a finger to his lips and smirked. “Or punishment will have to be served.” 

Shuichi nodded quickly and shut the door in Kokichi’s face. Sighing deeply, Shuichi went back to buttoning up his shirt. 

Kokichi was always weird but lately, he’s been acting weirder. 

Before, when Shuichi would spend time with Kokichi, the boy’s reactions were unpredictable and would change at the drop of a hat. He would compulsively lie at every opportunity, and just generally made a nuisance of himself to Shuichi.

Now, Kokichi was even stranger. His reactions were more predictable, but it was concerning. Kokichi would follow Shuichi around like some kind of dog, taunt him constantly with words of arrogance, and even had the audacity to grab Shuichi’s hands whenever he can. While Kokichi’s hands were nice to the touch, it was still alarming. Once, Kokichi even had lied and told Shuichi he liked him. 

Kokichi has been coming to his room every morning for the last few days. He would greet Shuichi every time they bumped into each other, and during free time, Kokichi would somehow always find Shuichi and force him into playing with him. 

Surely, there was a limit to the mean pranks that Kokichi can pull, right? Why was he so insistent over teasing Shuichi? 

Shuichi shook his head, opening the door after he was done with his routine. 

True to his words (shockingly), Kokichi was waiting by the door, crouching down and looking at his feet. When the door was opened, Kokichi looked up and grinned. He got up and brushed off the non-existent dust. 

“Sure took you long enough, Shuichi!” 

“Sorry. Let’s head to the dining hall now?” 

“Of course! I’ve been starving for days!” 

“Surely that’s a lie.” 

“You know me so well, Shuichi!” 

Kokichi grabbed Shuichi’s hand as they began to walk. He was still talking normally as if he didn’t notice, but his fingers tightening around Shuichi’s hand were a telltale sign that he was perfectly aware of what he was doing. Shuichi was tempted to shake Kokichi’s hand off, but he decided against it. Kokichi’s hand was cold, but it was very comfortable; the way it fits perfectly into Shuichi’s, the way Kokichi’s fingers curl around Shuichi’s palm, not quite long enough to reach all the way around but still making the effort to. 

Kokichi swung his arm as he held Shuichi’s hand, chirpy as always as he continued to dramatically retell his terrible childhood of being starved to his bones and never tasting good food. Of course, that was easily a lie, but Shuichi didn’t bother pointing it out seeing as Kokichi seemed to be having a lot of fun. 

When they got to the dining hall, Kokichi let go of Shuichi’s hand and pushed the door open. 

Most of the students had already gathered and were already eating breakfast. 

Shuichi sat down to the left of Kaede Akamatsu and was served breakfast. Kokichi immediately sat next to him, beginning to chat with the students around him -- if taunting the others counted as chatting anyways. 

“Kokichi really likes you, huh?” Kaede said. 

Shuichi laughed slightly, not sure what to make of that. Kokichi didn’t seem to react as he continued to provoke Keebo with robophobic insults. 

“He’s fun to be around, isn’t he?” Kaede continued, a strange smile on her face as if she knew something that Shuichi didn’t. 

“Yeah, he is.”

There was never a dull moment with Kokichi, even if he was weird and hard to follow. Shuichi was fairly confident in his ability to tell if Kokichi was lying nowadays, so it was safe to say that hanging out with Kokichi has gotten significantly better than before where he was pulled along on a string based on Kokichi’s whims

With that short exchange of words, Kaede and Shuichi continued to eat in pleasant silence. 

Shuichi once again felt smaller fingers curling around his left hand, and he didn’t even have to look to know that it was another one of Kokichi’s pranks again. Really, what was the purpose of grabbing Shuichi’s hand whenever he has the chance? Was it to get a reaction out of Shuichi? If so, why hasn’t Kokichi gotten bored yet since Shuichi doesn’t react at all? 

Maybe Shuichi wasn’t getting better at reading Kokichi at all. 

Shuichi sighed dejectedly at the thought. Kokichi’s fingers tensed around him, tightened, then let go. The cold warmth of Kokichi’s hand slid away silently, and Shuichi felt a little sad. 

Sad? 

That’s strange, why would he feel that way from the loss of contact? 

More importantly, why did Kokichi let go? He usually never does that unless someone was about to see them holding hands. 

Kaede looked at him. “What’s wrong, Shuichi? You look down all of a sudden.” 

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing.” 

“...Okay,” Kaede didn’t look convinced but she conceded. “If you ever need any consultation, you can always come to me, Shuichi.” 

Shuichi smiled at the kind girl. “Thank you, I will.” 

.  
.  
.

Once again, Kokichi was following him around during the free time. He would slip in and out of sight, popping up when Shuichi least expects it. 

Once, when Gonta was about to lift Shuichi up by the shoulders, Kokichi appeared from thin air and dragged Shuichi away. Later, when Shuichi was discussing anthropology with Korekiyo for about half an hour, Kokichi popped through the door and jumped into the conversation unprompted. Next, Shuichi was about to approach Kaito for some bro time before Kokichi appeared inches behind him (scaring Shuichi out of his skin), and made Shuichi play cards with him in the library. 

What was Kokichi’s goal for monopolizing Shuichi’s time like this? 

“I’m doing it because I like you.” 

Shuichi jumped slightly and snapped back from his thoughts. 

“What?” he asked. 

“You just looked like you were questioning why I’m following you everywhere.” 

Shuichi was shocked. How did Kokichi know? 

“I know because you’re painfully oblivio-- obvious. It shows on your face.” Kokichi pointed to his own face as an example, an impudent smile breaking out. 

Shuichi touched his cheek, frowning. Was he really that obvious? 

Wait, no, there were more pressing matters.  
“Kokichi, you shouldn’t lie about liking someone.” Shuichi scolded. “This is the second time this week.” 

Kokichi broke out into a loud sob. “Waaaahhhhh, Shuichi rejected me!” 

“Kokichi.” 

Kokichi blew a raspberry, his expression reverting back to normal. 

“Boring~ I was hoping for you to blush or get flustered or something. Your reactions are so boring nowadays, Shuichi.” 

Then why are you still hanging around me? 

Kokichi threw the rest of his cards down, seeming to have lost interest. He placed his hands behind his head and began to walk out of the room. 

“You’re so mean, Shuichi. I’ll go find fun somewhere else.” 

He says that and yet he still comes back sooner or later. 

Shuichi was at a loss for words, but he just went back to his normal routine. He still had time before lunch to talk with someone else that isn’t Kokichi. 

Luckily for Shuichi, just as soon as he stepped out, he ran into Kaede. The girl was more than happy to chat with him. The two spent time in the arcade playing the games available there. It served as good bonding time and a good way to forget his worries over Kokichi for 15 minutes.

.  
.  
.

“What, you’re having fun without me!” 

Speak of the devil, it was Kokichi... again. 

“Hey, Kokichi.” Kaede greeted. Shuichi did the same, albeit reluctantly as it was his fifth time that day.

“Shuichi, I found something cool in the courtyard, come with me!” Kokichi grabbed both of Shuichi’s hands and began to drag him out the door. 

“Wh- wait, I’m with Kaede!” 

Kokichi stopped and looked back at Kaede. He was making an expression that Shuichi couldn’t quite catch from his perspective, but it seemed frightening. 

Kaede glanced at Kokichi and smiled, then looked at Shuichi and did the same. 

“Ah, come to think of it, I made plans to help out uh, Angie in her lab today… oops, I forgot.” 

“Well, there you have it! Let’s go, Shuichi!” Kokichi turned back around, his grip on Shuichi’s hand tightening even more as he began to drag Shuichi out again. 

Shuichi looked at Kaede helplessly, but she simply waved back with that strange smile on her face. She definitely was lying about her plans with Angie, even Shuichi could tell without Kokichi’s expertise. 

“Good luck, Shuichi! I’m cheering for you!” she gave him a thumbs up.

Cheering for what? Shuichi cried internally.

.  
.  
.

“Geez, Shuichi, I leave you for a few minutes and you’re already cheating on little ol’ me.” Kokichi sighed, swaying his arm and, by association, Shuichi’s arm back and forth.

“Right, right, sorry…” Shuichi played along with the act, feeling tired of the shtick. “What was it you wanted to show me over here?” 

“Nothing really, I lied.” 

“…”

Shuichi typically wasn’t one for violence, but at that moment he really wanted to punch Kokichi and wipe that snarky smirk off his face. 

“Nee hee hee, you should really see the look you have on your face right now! It’s hilarious!” 

Shuichi placed a hand on his forehead, feeling a headache beginning to develop. 

“Kokichi, you...” 

“What, what, are you going to punch me? With those flabby arms of yours?” Kokichi seemed to really be enjoying himself, holding a hand up to his face as he continued to laugh. “I bet you can’t do it! You’re too much of an introverted loser to do that! Ahahahahaha!” 

Shuichi shook his hand away from Kokichi’s grip. “I really can’t with you.” 

“Peh, you’re no fun. Just awful today.” Kokichi sighed, hiding his rejected hand behind his back.  
“Oh well, whatever~” and with that, Kokichi skipped off. 

Shuichi shook his head and went back inside the school. Once again, he bumped into Kaede right as he opened the doors. 

“Oh my, we meet again, Shuichi. What a total coincidence!” Kaede laughed awkwardly, backing a few steps away from the door. 

“Were… were you listening in on us?” 

“No, no, no, I would never do that.” 

“…” 

“Okay, maybe I was a little worried and maybe I did lie about helping out with Angie just so I could spy on you, but I didn’t have any bad intentions, I swear!” she shook both her hands rapidly as she tried to explain herself, but she only ended up confusing Shuichi more. 

“Worried? About what?” Shuichi asked. 

Kaede stayed silent as if dumbfounded. “You don’t know about Kokichi’s...?” 

“Know about Kokichi’s what?” 

Kaede held a hand up to cover her open mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Oh my god, you don’t know.” 

“Like I said-”

Kaede grabbed Shuichi’s shoulders, looked around quickly and then dragged Shuichi off into an empty classroom. 

.  
.  
.

Kaede had been pacing around for a good minute. Shuichi sat at the desk, confused but patiently waited for Kaede to explain to him about what she was referring to before. 

“I’m honestly surprised at how… seriously, Shuichi, have you not picked up on the hints?” 

“Kaede, please stop being so vague.” 

Kaede placed both her hands at her temples, pursing her lips and sighing deeply. She stopped pacing and placed a hand on Shuichi’s desk. 

“Has Kokichi done anything weird to you lately?” 

Shuichi raised an eyebrow. Could she be referring to the hand holding and weird taunts? 

“Yeah?” 

“Okay, so imagine if,” Kaede paused, choosing her words carefully. “If someone besides Kokichi, like say, a girl, did all the things that Kokichi has done.” 

“She would be a really weird girl to lie so much.” 

Kaede threw her head back, murmuring an “oh my god” beneath her breath before turning back to Shuichi. 

“No, I meant the flirting he’s done these past days.” 

“Flirting?” 

“Hasn’t Kokichi been holding your hands lately?” 

Shuichi nodded. 

“And hasn’t he been spending a lot more time with you lately?” 

Shuichi nodded. 

“Normally, when a person gets this… sticky, what would you assume?” 

As if two puzzle pieces fit together, a lightbulb went off in Shuichi’s head. Could it be? No, it couldn’t. But what if? 

Shuichi stared up at Kaede, flapping his lips up and down in shock. Kaede stared down at him, tilting her head and sighing. She smiled at him softly and laughed to herself. Like a mother to her son, she patted Shuichi on the head as if in reassurance and left the room, leaving Shuichi to his own thoughts. 

Shuichi continued to think, rejecting his newfound discovery over and over again, but all the evidence fit together perfectly. There wasn’t a piece out of place, all the clues pointed to one thing. For the first time in his life, Shuichi felt his brain stop processing. 

He was like this for the rest of the day as he still tried to convince himself that it simply wasn’t true. It wasn’t true that Kokichi liked Shuichi for real. 

Why Kokichi? He seemed like the last person to develop any large emotional attachment for anyone. 

Much less someone like Shuichi. 

Yeah, that’s right. Kokichi was probably just lying. He was just toying around with Shuichi because it was fun or something. Why else would he be so proactive, but never crossing the line?

“Shuichi!” 

Shuichi felt an impact on his back and he nearly fell over while trying to stabilize himself from the sudden weight on his back. Kokichi had suddenly pounced on him, forcing Shuichi to give him a piggy-back ride. 

Shuichi let out an exasperated sigh as he turned his head slightly to look at Kokichi, but froze immediately. Kokichi’s large purple irises were a hair’s length away from Shuichi’s, and Shuichi could feel Kokichi’s exhales tickling his nose. 

“Shuichi? You okay?” 

“You… you’re too close!” Shuichi quickly turned his head, feeling his face heat up. 

“Oh?” there was amusement in Kokichi’s voice, mixed with a little bit of excitement. 

Shuichi felt tingles on the surface of his back where Kokichi’s body was pressed up against. Startling him even more, Kokichi’s arms snaked around Shuichi, wounding across Shuichi’s neck and resting lightly upon his shoulders. 

Shuichi jumped when he felt hot breath against his left ear and he was half tempted to throw Kokichi off his back to stop the tingles. 

“Shuichi…” Kokichi’s low voice whispered into Shuichi’s ear. “Have you finally realized?” 

Shuichi let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding in, shudders running through his entire body. He didn’t know what to do, he was heating up. Kokichi definitely could see how red his face was. 

It seems Kokichi wasn’t acting after all and Kaede really knew what was going on. How could Shuichi have been so oblivious to Kokichi’s advances? Shuichi had assumed they were just mean jabs to get a reaction out of him, despite the fact that Kokichi usually didn’t get so physical with his pranks. He always used words to suggest something that wasn’t there to plant doubt and unease within the group. He never got so touchy.

If Kokichi had simply used words, Shuichi wouldn’t have doubted one bit that Kokichi was lying, but Kokichi had held his hand persistently and wasted so much effort to chase after Shuichi. 

“You’re so mean.” Shuichi let out shakily. 

“I am,” Kokichi said right next to Shuichi’s ear, once again causing Shuichi to feel shudders.

“Kokichi, I need to think about this.” 

“You’re gonna make this supreme evil leader wait?” Kokichi finally let go of Shuichi and slid down his back. He walked around Shuichi and looked up at Shuichi to see his face. Kokichi had on a smile, as expected. 

“Yes.” 

Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Kokichi almost looked worried for a half second. Shuichi blinked and Kokichi smirking like he always did. 

“If you dare to reject me, I could kill you, you know?” Kokichi laughed sinisterly. 

Shuichi nodded. Kokichi had always been threatening to kill Shuichi with his evil organization, the threat wasn’t very frightening now. 

Kokichi hmphed. 

With that, the day concluded. 

.  
.  
.

Shuichi didn’t get any sleep that night. He got up earlier than the morning announcement and got dressed quickly. After the announcement rang, Shuichi waited in his room for a few minutes but there was no ring. 

Kokichi hadn’t come to his room this morning. 

Of course, he didn’t. Who would want to visit the room of someone who was so indecisive? Even now, Shuichi was unsure of his answer. Kokichi was fun to hang around, but Shuichi felt the same for most of his other companions. Shuichi was just like what Kokichi had said, an introverted loser. He didn’t know what love felt like, how would he know if he wanted to… to… 

Shuichi shook his head, getting up from his bed, groggily making his way to the door. 

Just then, his doorbell rang.

Shuichi felt his heart speed up as he almost tripped in shock. He quickly rushed over to open the door only to find Kaede standing there. The disappointment he felt from seeing her instead of Kokichi made Shuichi feel guilty. 

Kaede took one look at Shuichi and her face clouded over with worry.

“You look terrible Shuichi.” Kaede’s face closed in on his. She placed a hand on his face, her thumb tracing his eye bags. “Do you also need concealer to hide it?”

Shuichi once again felt guilty for making Kaede worry. His heart tightened as he realized something even worse. Kaede’s hand was warm, but it wasn’t comfortable to Shuichi at all. Shuichi didn’t mind Kaede’s touch, but he didn’t like it either. 

He gripped the hem of his jacket. 

How could I think like this?

“Shuichi?” Kaede drew her hand away and grabbed his hands. He flinched from the touch. Her hands on his felt wrong. 

“Maybe you should rest some more. I’ll bring breakfast to you, okay?” 

Shuichi didn’t want to trouble her like this, but he also didn’t want to go anywhere today. He nodded slowly and Kaede smiled at him. 

“Okay, just wait here. Breakfast will be here soon!” 

Shuichi waved her goodbye and closed the door. He walked back to his bed and flopped down. Kaede was so kind, he felt wrong to think of her touch so negatively. He felt wrong to be disappointed to see her at his door in the morning. 

What was wrong with him today? 

Shuichi rubbed his temples, his head hurting from the lack of sleep. His thoughts wandered off once again, contemplating his answer. 

Soon, his door was kicked open. 

“Yo, Shuichi!” 

Shuichi sat up abruptly, looking over at his door. Kokichi stood at the entrance, wearing his usual smile and two plates of breakfast in his hands. 

“Geez, Shuichi, what did you do to yourself! That stupidly persistent blondie practically attacked me this morning, forcing me to bring breakfast to you and whatnot!” Kokichi complained. “Luckily, I am a generous, kind, and considerate person, so I agreed without much of a fuss, but still!” 

“Where were you this morning!?” Shuichi nearly yelled at Kokichi but kept his voice at a medium level to avoid scaring Kokichi off. 

“I was searching for the meaning of life,” Kokichi replied nonchalantly, setting the plates down on the coffee table. 

“...”

Maybe scaring him off would’ve been a better idea. Shuichi got up from his bed, his legs numb from the weariness but he made his way to the table with no problems. Kokichi stared at him attentively but didn’t say anything. 

Both of them sat down and ate in silence. Shuichi’s heart was beating fast from the nerve-wracking silence. Kokichi wasn’t asking him for an answer? 

No, maybe it’s better this way. 

How would Shuichi know if he liked Kokichi back? Was there a way to prove that feelings of love existed in his uneasy heart? Was there something about Kokichi that made Shuichi feel different? Where was that feeling that was described in those cheesy romance films? 

A feeling of comfort, a feeling that he couldn’t live without? 

Shuichi dug through all his knowledge for anything at all, nervously chewing on his fork as his eyes shifted from one thing to another. Eventually, his eyes settled on Kokichi’s right hand. 

It held a fork, which stabbed into the food quite mercilessly. Shuichi’s eyes followed the path of the fork as it was brought up to Kokichi’s mouth. His thin lips wrapped around the fork, his mouth moved slightly and the fork came back out of his mouth with a ‘pop’. 

Shuichi gulped and his eyes wandered farther up Kokichi’s face. His blood felt like it was boiling as he met eyes with Kokichi. Kokichi’s purple eyes were staring straight at Shuichi, observing his every movement. It was like a predator staring at its prey, ready to hunt it down. 

But something was off. 

Shuichi squinted and made out something dark underneath Kokichi’s eyes. Slightly surprised, he leaned in and placed a hand on Kokichi’s face just like Kaede had done to him before. 

Kokichi’s eyes went wide. “Shuichi?” 

Shuichi hummed in response, wiping his thumb under Kokichi’s eyes. He wiped away some kind of substance from Kokichi’s face and without that substance, Shuichi could see dark creases underneath Kokichi’s eyes. Kokichi had eye bags. 

“You didn’t sleep.” 

Kokichi pressed his lips tightly together, eyes still wide and he gulped. 

“I did, a lot! Best sleep I’ve had all my life!” 

Shuichi ignored that obvious lie and looked at his thumb. On it was the substance he had wiped off from Kokichi’s face. He brought it close to his nose and sniffed. 

“You didn’t come to my room this morning… not because you were searching for the meaning of life, but because you were searching for concealer to hide your eye bags.” 

“What makes you think that, Shuichi?” Kokichi laughed. 

“Kaede had offered me concealer also.” 

Kokichi knew that he couldn’t get out of this one, so he gave up on lying. “Yeah, so what?” 

He raised his hands up to grab Shuichi’s. 

“I was looking through the Monopad last night. Or, what, do you think that I lost sleep because of you? That’d be pretty arrogant of you, Shuichi.” 

Kokichi continued to ramble off about how stupid Shuichi would be to think that Kokichi would actually care enough to be worrying over Shuichi’s answer.

Shuichi wasn’t paying attention. The cold warmth of Kokichi’s hand had returned to him. Kokichi’s fingers were curling around his hand like they always did, except this time they were a little shakier than before. The feeling of comfort that Shuichi had felt from Kokichi’s touch had returned. 

The reason why Shuichi was fine with Kokichi holding his hand all those times, Shuichi had realized it. 

“I think I like you, Kokichi.”

Kokichi shut up real quick. 

Shuichi and Kokichi sat deathly still. 

Shuichi began to sweat, nervous. Was this not the answer Kokichi wanted? Why wasn’t Kokichi responding and just staring at Shuichi with an open mouth? 

It took only a minute for Kokichi to react but it felt like hours.

“Really?” he asked in disbelief, grabbing Shuichi’s arm. “You’re not lying? You’re not playing with me?” 

Shuichi was slightly surprised at how flustered Kokichi acted. It felt refreshing. 

Unconsciously, he let out a bemused chuckle and smirked cheekily at Kokichi. 

That out of character response was enough to make Kokichi erupt into red. Kokichi let out a strangled sound, which only caused Shuichi to start laughing happily as he brought Kokichi into an embrace. 

A hug. They were hugging. 

Finally, the two crossed the threshold of merely holding hands.


End file.
